After watching cautiously from the sidelines as Montreal’s top municipal officials defended themselves against damning allegations at the Charbonneau Commission hearings last week, it was the Quebec Liberal Party’s turn Wednesday to vehemently deny that it had anything to with dirty money flowing into political coffers.

The testimony of former construction entrepreneur Lino Zambito, which had been subject to a blanket publication ban over the long weekend, fell on the provincial party like a tonne of bricks Tuesday night. Among other things, Zambito claimed the Liberals were complicit in a system of kickbacks that allowed construction entrepreneurs to over-charge on public contracts by tens of thousands of dollars. Those “extras” were then approved by engineering firms, Zambito said, and the resulting profits were shared by the contractors, firms and provincial political parties.

Last Thursday, Justice France Charbonneau asked who, if anyone, is losing out in this type of scheme.

“When the cost of contracts goes up … it’s the citizen that pays,” Zambito responded after a brief pause.

“Exactly,” came the judge’s sharp reply.

While many of the provincial Liberals named by Zambito have since retired from politics, the party’s interim leader wasn’t about to let allegations of past wrongdoings taint the present-day Liberal brand. Addressing reporters in Quebec City, Jean-Marc Fournier called Zambito’s allegations “troubling” and denied that his party resorts to borrowed names to cover up illegal contributions, or takes cash donations.

“These practices have never been tolerated and would never be tolerated,” Fournier said.

The commission will decide whether Zambito is a credible witness, he said, adding that there are other witnesses to come. But Fournier added that if the allegations turn out to be true, there will be “no tolerance for those at fault.”

The allegations “are not to the advantage of the political class, not just the Quebec Liberal Party.”

Asked about Zambito’s allegations concerning former deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau, who accepted box tickets at the Bell Centre for a Céline Dion concert from Zambito in 2008, Fournier said that issue was debated in the National Assembly. At the time, Quebec’s new code of ethics for elected assembly members, which came into force last Jan. 1, did not apply. Fournier said if it had, Normandeau would have had to declare the gift.

Normandeau herself released a statement Wednesday afternoon stating that during her time in politics (she left the National Assembly in late 2011), she always did her job “with honesty and integrity.”

“I will not allow anyone to question my integrity,” said Normandeau, whose name came up numerous times during Zambito’s testimony.

Another former Liberal minister who found himself back in the media spotlight on Wednesday was David Whissell. Zambito told the commissioners that in 2007, Christian Côté, an organizer for Whissell, phoned him at home and arranged a meeting during which he asked Zambito for an illegal $50,000 contribution to the party.

“Never, never,” Whissell said Wednesday morning in a Radio-Canada radio interview. Whissell, who resigned as Quebec labour minister in 2009 when then-premier Jean Charest gave him the choice of staying in his cabinet or retaining the government paving contracts his company ABC Rive-Nord Inc. was awarded without competitive bids, denied he ever heard of Côté’s demand. And he cast doubt on Zambito’s credibility, calling him a “bandit” who was involved in collusion and corruption.

“I’m not saying everything he says is false,” Whissell told Radio-Canada host Claude Bernatchez. “But what he said about Christian Côté is false.”

Despite its obvious stake in the inquiry, the Quebec Liberal Party still doesn’t have a lawyer representing it at the Charbonneau Commission. As of mid-September, when the Parti Québécois formally took power, the Liberals were no longer represented by the lawyer for the provincial justice department. On Wednesday, Fournier said that the Liberals decided on Oct. 1 that they would seek official standing with the commission, so that a lawyer representing the party could be present and, if necessary, cross-examine witnesses. It’s unclear if that standing could be awarded before Zambito is finished on the stand. His testimony is scheduled to resume Monday.